Principle of non-discrimination

Education must be accessible to all, in law and in fact. The principle of non-discrimination is established in UNESCO’s Constitution (Article I, para 2 b). Guided by its mission to realize gradually “… the ideal of equality of educational opportunity without regard to race, sex or any distinctions, economic or social”, UNESCO adopted in 1960 the Convention against Discrimination in Education.

This Convention constitutes a milestone in providing the legal bases of the right to education. It was the first international treaty to be adopted concerning education as such. Other instruments elaborated by UNESCO and by the United Nations also establish this principle. Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example, proscribes any form of discrimination.

Under Article 1 of the Convention against Discrimination in Education, the term "discrimination" includes any distinction, exclusion, limitation or preference which, being based on race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, economic condition or birth, has the purpose or effect of nullifying or impairing equality of treatment in education.

Equality of opportunity and treatment

The first mention of 'equal opportunity' in an international treaty dealing with education was in the Preamble of UNESCO’s Constitution (‘the States Parties to this Constitution, believing in full and equal opportunities for education for all ...’).

Universal access to education

Universal access to education is the cornerstone of the right to education. This principle can be found in most of the instruments elaborated by UNESCO in the field of education, translated in the normative contents.

Principle of solidarity

The principle of “intellectual and moral solidarity” of mankind, enshrined in UNESCO’s Constitution, is a source of strength for the realization of the right to education for all.

Already reflected in the World Declaration on Educational for All (1990), it underlies the spirit of the World Education Forum, where the international community affirmed that “no countries seriously committed to education for all will be thwarted in their achievement of this goal by a lack of resources”.